Central Scheduling:  Central Scheduling is comprised of four coordinated units/divisions on campus with general responsibility to the Policy for Centralized Classroom and Event Scheduling as follows: 

1. Registrar’s Office – is responsible for scheduling classrooms for Priority 1 courses after the exclusivity period and for scheduling Priority 2-3 academic related events.
2. Campus Reservations, Events, & Technical Services (CRETS) – is responsible for scheduling Priority 3-5 non-academic related events in rooms for users other than those for which those rooms have been pre-designated after the event exclusivity period for Academic units. 
3. Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) – is responsible for advising and working with Academic units to maintain their pre-designated space.   
4. Facilities Management Division (FMD) – is responsible for providing access to rooms for use after normal instructional hours (e.g., before 8 am or after 5 pm, or on weekends), and providing other facilities services requested by customary processes. 

Priority contact information for these units/divisions in Central Scheduling are:

For the purposes of the use of space that is pre-designated or not pre-designated to an Academic unit, the following stakeholders and responsibilities have been identified: 

1. Host Academic unit. The Host is the Academic unit with approval from the Provost’s Office to use the space as their pre-designated space.  The Host Academic unit is expected to maintain its pre-designated space in a manner consistent with the Policy for Centralized Classroom and Event Scheduling.  The Host Academic unit should determine the best way to place and store room contents, room-specific artifacts and specimens to minimize the potential for damage when the room is used by a visiting/other academic units or groups. If the Host Academic unit wants to change the seating type, number of seats, or anything that might affect the pedagogy options for courses being taught there, they should speak with Space Management about the proposed changes. Any changes that would repurpose a room from being instructional to non-instructional must be approved by the Centralized Scheduling Appeals committee.
    
2. Central Scheduling. Central Scheduling will: 
   
   1. keep room information in 25Live current and detailed enough so all Stakeholders are aware of pertinent details about a room, its capabilities, and contents,
   
   
   1. act on issues in a timely manner,
   
   
   1. advise Host Academic units and visiting/other Academic units or groups on special needs or situations that may arise,
   
   
   1. facilitate and coordinate building and room access, as well as secure the room door and building after use by the visiting/other Academic unit or group, and
   
   
   1. be responsible for assessing and resolving any conflicts that may arise.     
3. Visiting/Other Academic units or groups. Visiting/Other Academic units or groups may receive authorization to use a room which is not their pre-designated space.  The visiting/other Academic unit or group is expected to: 
   1. review details about the room in 25Live and visit the room in advance so that it is knowledgeable about the room and its contents.
   
   
   1. care for the room and all items in the room as if it were their pre-designated space. The Academic unit or group cannot bring any food or drink into the room unless there is explicit prior permission from the Host Academic unit or from Central Scheduling. After room use, all furnishings must be returned to their original position and all trash must be picked up and placed in receptacles. Failure to care for the room may result in the future denial for use of the room.
   
   
   1. pre-arrange with the Host Academic unit for Priority 1 courses to be held during normal instructional hours (8 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday). However, for Priority 1 courses after hours, and for all Priority 2-5 events, Central Scheduling will pre-arrange access to the building and room on behalf of the visiting/other Academic units or groups. 

The Room Assignment Optimizer in the 25Live software is used to schedule course sections in classrooms. The factors used to complete room assignments are:

• Instructor teaching back-to-back classes (it will schedule them in the same building if possible)
• Seat fill (best fill for class in classroom) 
• Preferences submitted to the Office of the Registrar regarding specific location or room feature
• Nearness to the subject’s home building

All subjects and courses are considered equally and have the same opportunity to receive rooms based on the factors above.

A link to the classroom Preference Form is sent by the Registrar’s Office via email to all course section schedulers approximately 2-3 weeks before the Central Scheduling Period. The schedulers can use the form to indicate any course section with special requirements such as location or classroom features (technology, seating, etc.).

It is assumed that all courses are expecting to be located as near as possible to the host department location. There is no need to submit a form to indicate this desire. However, if it is preferred for the course to be located in another area of campus, the form should be used.

If specific seating or technology is noted on the form, it will be treated as mandatory for teaching the course. If there is not a room available with that specific seating type or technology, the course will be left without a room. Another time period will then need to be chosen to then find the room requirements for the course.

During the classroom scheduling optimization process, over 2,000 course sections are assigned classrooms. The complex process of assigning classrooms is analogous to putting together a very large jigsaw puzzle and all of the pieces cannot fit in the same space.

If a course does not receive a room during the classroom scheduling optimization process, then it is usually because every room with the appropriate size, in the appropriate area of campus, and at the specified date/time has already been assigned. The Office of the Registrar will contact the departmental schedulers for the course sections that were not assigned a classroom to discuss a possible secondary time period preference or other location preferences. The Office of the Registrar will offer the departments as much information as possible to help the department determine the best alternative in order to accommodate the class.